Bacon wrapped Monkfish with smashed potatoes

An amazing dinner party quality dish that will impress even the most amazing cooks. Bacon wrapped monkfish will be a winner all around. The bacon and monkfish is a rich and pleasantly salty combination. Paired with beef dripping potatoes and balanced by the tartness of the tomatoes and spinach, this is a delicious grain free meal that is rich in healthy fats and high quality nutrients.

25

minutes prepation

35

minutes cooking

2-4

servings

Ingredients

4 potatoes

1 1/2 tbs beef dripping

1 monkfish tail – filleted, skin and guts removed

12-14 slices smoked streaky bacon

1 tbs lemon thyme leaves

2 tomatoes

1 tbs butter

1/2 bag baby spinach leaves

Monkfish sauce

50g butter

75g bag of watercress

2 preserved anchovies

Juice of half a lemon

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp any sugar (we used palm sugar) – or to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 200° Roughly chop the potatoes. Melt the beef dripping and coat the potatoes. Season with salt and pepper and place in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile remove the larger stalks from the watercress. Chop the watercress finely for as long as you can be bothered. Finely chop the anchovies.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan or frying pan. Add the watercress and the anchovies then squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Add the cayenne pepper, nutmeg and sugar. Stir until the ingredients combine and you have a smooth sauce.

After 20 minutes remove the potatoes from the oven.

Place the slices of bacon across the bottom of a baking dish lined with foil. Arrange by placing the next piece of bacon half over the one previous slice. Place the monkfish tail on top of the bacon and then arrange a generous amount of lemon thyme (about half of it) leaves across the entire tail.

Wrap the fish in the bacon covering both ends. Cut the tomatoes in half and put them in the baking dish with the fish.

Grill the bacon wrapped fish for 7 to 10 minutes on the first side. Turn the fish over when the bacon begins to crisp.

While the fish is grilling use a potato masher to lightly ‘smash’ the potatoes. We want to avoid mashing them, so be gentle. Add a couple of teaspoons of butter and a sprinkling of lemon thyme and return the potatoes to the oven. If your grill and oven are the same then just put the potatoes on a lower shelf while the fish grills.

Meanwhile heat a frying pan on the stove. Add the spinach leaves, a pinch of salt and a 1/4 tsp of water. Stir around the pan to wilt.

When the bacon begins to crisp the monkfish is cooked. Remove the fish, potatoes and tomatoes from the oven. Slice up the bacon wrapped fish and plate up with a scoop of potatoes, a tomato and some spinach. Enjoy!